1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a breast pump for extracting milk from a human breast and collecting the extracted milk in a milk receiving bag. Further, the present invention relates to a pressure adjusting mechanism for adjusting the pressure applied by the breast pump, as well as a milk receiving bag for freezing the extracted milk.
2. State of the Prior Art
One conventional breast pump is disclosed in Japanese publication 41,364/1984. The breast pump described in this document has a section for producing suction on the breast that is electrically driven, a milk extracting section and a bottle. The suction section has a pressure adjusting knob and a pressure release button for changing the internal pressure by the introduction of outside air. The milk extracting section has a funnel-like receiver vertically connected to the bottle by the suction section.
When the electrically driven suction section is operated and the funnel-receiver applied to a breast, a negative pressure or suction is created in the milk extracting section for extracting milk. The extracted milk is guided to flow into the bottle.
However, the above-described conventional breast pump has the following disadvantages. The milk extracting section of the breast pump is connected to the bottle, and thus the extracted milk is collected in the bottle. Thus when milk is preserved in a home freezer, it has to be moved from the bottle to a suitable freezing bag. When the frozen milk is then used to feed a baby, it has to be moved back to the bottle, which involves removing the freezing bag from the freezer, defrosting the freezing bag and warming the bag up to a desired temperature. Thus the milk has to be moved at least two times when milk is frozen and subsequently defrosted to feed a baby. This not only involves some trouble in moving the milk back and forth, but because the milk is moved at least two times, there is a risk that the bottle and bag might become unsanitary.